Offer Description
The ChordIA project seeks to hire a highly qualified Senior Music Engraver with meticulous attention to detail and experience in music from the 16th to the 18th century.
Your primary role will be the expert digital transcription (copying) of scores and the preparation of high-fidelity musical editions from manuscript and printed sources. Your work will be essential for the creation of the project's digital corpus, which forms the basis for all computational analysis. This position is hired by ICCMU and funded by the ChordIA-CM project (Comunidad de Madrid). As a key member of the ChordIA project, you will:
- Digitally transcribe 16th-18th century music manuscripts and prints (full scores, parts, etc.), strictly adhering to the editorial criteria established by the ChordIA project.
- Create, professionally lay out, and manage digital music files (e.g., Dorico, MuseScore, MusicXML, PDF) according to project standards.
- Precisely and efficiently incorporate corrections and revisions into digital scores, in collaboration with the project's proofreader.
- Write concise critical notes regarding interventions and decisions made during the transcription process.
- Assist the Data Scientist in reviewing and adapting the digital music corpus based on new criteria arising from computational analysis.
- Efficiently use the project's communication and task-tracking tools (e.g., Trello, Slack).
- Provide technical support and mentorship to students in training on digital copying and editing tasks.
About the ChordIA Project
The ChordIA-CM project ("Unveiling Musical Grammar"), funded by the Comunidad de Madrid, is a groundbreaking synergistic research initiative focused on studying the emergence and consolidation of the tonal system in Western music (1580-1750). This collaborative project brings together researchers from the Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales (ICCMU), the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED-LENAR) and professionals from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Álvaro Torrente Sánchez-Guisande (ICCMU/UCM) and the Associate Professor Salvador Ros Muñoz (UNED).
ChordIA's core objectives are: * To create a large-scale, multimodal dataset of thousands of musical works (1580-1750), including digital scores (Dorico, MusicXML, MIDI, MuseScore), harmonic annotations and text.
- To develop an optimized sequencing format for training Large Language Models (LLMs) on symbolic music data.
- To conduct a diachronic study of the relationship between poetic structure and harmonic planning using NLP techniques.
- To design an agent-based architecture and multimodal models for the advanced analysis of harmony.
- To establish a comprehensive evaluation framework and leaderboard for musical language models.
Where to apply E-mail
chordia@iccmu.es
Requirements
Research Field Arts » Other Education Level Bachelor Degree or equivalent
Skills/Qualifications
Candidate's Profile:
- Advanced university degree in Music (e.g., Composition, Conducting, Musicology, or an instrumental specialty with a solid theoretical foundation) or a Master's degree in Musicology.
- Solid and exhaustive musical training ensuring the ability to interpret and transcribe complex scores from the 16th to 18th centuries (e.g., polyphony, thorough bass, early orchestral scores) without errors.
- Expert professional command of Dorico music notation software. Proficiency in Finale will be highly valued.
- Deep knowledge of music notation file formats (MusicXML, MIDI) and their interoperability.
- Advanced knowledge of harmony, counterpoint, basso continuo, and orchestration characteristic of the 16th-18th century styles.
- Significant, demonstrable experience in the digital copying and editing of music manuscripts, ideally from the relevant period. A portfolio will be required.
- Exceptional attention to detail, rigor, and the ability to detect and resolve problems in complex musical sources.
- Ability to work autonomously and as part of a team; proactive, meticulous, and adaptable to the project's evolving needs.
- Functional reading knowledge of Italian (for interpreting sources and annotations).
Specific Requirements
Desired
- Previous experience in musicological research projects or in preparing critical editions for publication.
- Familiarity with the principles of cataloguing and metadata management in musical contexts.
- Experience in supervising or training junior staff or students in digital music editing.
- Knowledge of other relevant European languages (e.g., German, French).
Languages SPANISH Level Good
Languages ITALIAN Level Basic
Research Field Arts » OtherComputer science » Modelling toolsLanguage sciences » Other Years of Research Experience None
Additional Information
Benefits
We Offer:
- Full-contract for 1 year, renewable annually for the project's 36-month duration.
- Salary: Gross annual salary of € 27.258,36.
- The salary will be paid in 12 instalments with prorated bonus payments.
- Dynamic Research Environment: Work with a young, ambitious, and interdisciplinary team of experts in musicology, AI, and computer science.
- Unique Dataset: Access to a new, curated dataset of thousands of annotated scores from the 16th to the 18th century.
Selection process
Application Process:
- Submission: Interested candidates should submit a CV, a motivation letter (outlining relevant experience), a portfolio of work (e.g., sample scores), and at least one professional reference letter to:
. * Deadline: Sunday, November 30 2025 (23:59 CET)
- Technical interview (online): December 1-5, 2025
Additional comments
ICCMU and the ChordIA project value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, including -but not limited to- race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, and disability.
Proyecto ChordIA: Unveiling Musical Grammar, ref. SYG-2024/PH-HUM-801, financiado por la Comunidad de Madrid con las ayudas a Proyectos Sinérgicos de I+D 2024. Website for additional job details
Work Location(s)
Number of offers available 1 Company/Institute Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales Country Spain State/Province Madrid City Madrid Postal Code 28015 Street Calle Donoso Cortés 63 Geofield
Contact State/Province
Madrid City
Madrid Website
Street
Calle del Profesor Aranguren 5 Postal Code
28040 E-Mail
eetcheverry@iccmu.es
malvarez@iccmu.es Phone
+34913945938
STATUS: EXPIRED
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